


Undeveloped Ensign Syndrome

by Warp5Complex_Archivist



Category: Star Trek: Enterprise
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-03-13
Updated: 2006-03-13
Packaged: 2018-08-16 04:44:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8087800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Warp5Complex_Archivist/pseuds/Warp5Complex_Archivist
Summary: It's hard being an ensign who never gets to do anything. Crossover, all other Treks. (04/15/2003)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Kylie Lee, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [Warp 5 Complex](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Warp_5_Complex), the software of which ceased to be maintained and created a security hazard. To make future maintenance and archive growth easier, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2016. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but I may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact me using the e-mail address on [Warp 5 Complex collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/Warp5Complex).

  
Author's notes: This is a response to the following challenge: Write a scene that breaks the fourth wall, featuring Travis Mayweather complaining about being under used in the first season of Enterprise. It must be post-2.01 "Shockwave 2," and it must include another character from another Trek series. Must also include references to: sluggo, Porthos, being the token black guy on the show, the sweet spot, "Fortunate Son", and the lines: "That Vulcan bitch!", "Archer couldn't captain his way out of a wet paper bag.", "I think there's something a little funny with that one, if you catch my meaning.", "I mean, what the hell was a bottle of bourbon doing aboard a shuttlepod anyway?", "Starfleet's first deep space pooper-scooper.", "What am I supposed to tell my mother?"  


* * *

Quark's was unusually slow that night, but Vic's was packed. Every time the doors to the holosuite opened, the noise from the party inside poured out. One lone bartender stood behind the bar, polishing a glass and filling the occasional drink order, mainly from Morn. But he didn't mind the inaction. He liked the quiet.

The barkeep looked up as he heard the holosuite doors open again. A man stepped out of the hallway on the upper level a moment later, and descended the stairs. A black man in a purple uniform.

"Hey Travis, I didn't expect to see you down here tonight. Not with Vic throwing a wrap party for the end of season one, you are one of the guests of honor. How come you're not up there?"

"Yeah well, I guess I wasn't feeling very honored," Travis said, taking a seat at the bar. "Can I get a beer?"

"Sure thing."

"So what are you doing down here, where's Quark?"

"Oh, he wanted to go to the party, so I told him I'd cover for him," the bartender answered with his back to Travis. He turned around with a tall, frosty beer and put the glass down on the bar.

"So why aren't you up there?" Travis asked.

"Fair is fair, I asked you first."

Travis shook his head. "I don't know, I'm just tired of it I guess."

"Of what?"

"The bragging, the self-congratulating. Let's just say that certain people are starting to buy into their own hype."

"Trip?"

"How did you know?"

"Just a hunch."

"All night long, it's been 'Wasn't I great in this episode' and 'How about me in that episode'. It's like Trip Tucker's greatest hits. When I left he and Malcolm were talking about "Shuttlepod One" like it was "City on the Edge of Forever"."

The bartender laughed. "I never really understood that one," he commented. "I mean, what the hell was a bottle of bourbon doing aboard a shuttlepod anyway? And what was the deal with sealing a hull breach with mashed potatoes? And why was Malcolm eating sea bass, when his Academy roommate told Hoshi that he didn't like fish?"

"Don't look at me, I don't think I had a single line in that one," Travis said, taking a sip of beer.

"I guess they don't pay attention to details like that when they're doing a character episode."

"Then again, you could count the episodes that I did have lines in on one hand."

"Ah, so we finally get to the root of the problem."

"Porthos has had more screen time than I have. Hell, Sluggo has had more screen time than I have. Take away "Fortunate Son" and "Broken Bow", and I'm a reoccurring extra. I'm Crewman Cutler."

"What about "Detained"?"

"You know that part was originally written for Trip," Travis answered bitterly. "A fact of which he constantly reminds me. 'I would have done it this way, I would have said this'," Travis mimicked in a whiny voice.

"Why did they give it to you?"

"Simple, the episode was about prejudice. Who better to beat the audience over the head with it than the ship's token black guy. Besides, "Desert Crossing" was still in the works and they didn't want the episodes to be too similar." Travis took another sip, slamming the glass back down on the bar rather hard.

"They haven't developed me at all!" he exclaimed. "They give me the whole space boomer thing, then do one episode on it! They give me the sweet spot, and they haven't even mentioned it again since the pilot! Everyone else has developed at least one friendship aboard, or some kind of relationship. Trip and Malcolm, Malcolm and Hoshi, Hoshi and Phlox, Phlox and Cutler, Phlox and Archer, Archer and Trip, Archer and T'Pol. T'Pol, that Vulcan bitch!" Travis exclaimed, downing the rest of his beer.

"You really don't hold your alcohol very well, do you?"

"That sanctimonious, self righteous, arrogant, pointed-eared..."

"What did she do?" the bartender asked, cutting him off.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing. That's my point. I mean, how do enormous ta-ta's and an ego to match make her a superior race? And Archer, he couldn't captain his way out of a wet paper bag. The whole bumbling tourist thing is starting to get old, not to mention the heavy-handed references to the Prime Directive. 'If only we had some kind of...directive', oh please, give me a break. Hey, can I get another one of these?"

"Maybe later," the bartender answered, taking the glass away.

"And Malcolm, I think there's something a little funny with that one, if you catch my meaning. You saw him and Trip on Risa, he had a rap like a thirteen-year-old. They looked like those two wild and crazy guys from that SNL sketch. I'm telling you, any excuse for Trip to run around in is underwear, any excuse. And those Starfleet briefs leave nothing to the imagination, he looks like he's smuggling grapes.

"I mean, what am I supposed to tell my mother? I've been in space for a year, the very first deep space mission for humans, and I spend most of my time running after the Captain's dog. Starfleet's first deep space pooper-scooper." Travis let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, I'm just venting I guess."

"You mind a little advice?"

"Please."

"I was in a similar situation once. Underdeveloped and under appreciated. When I wasn't being used as a punching bag for the writers, I was the punch line, the butt of their jokes. The friendships they had developed for me went straight out the window when they decided that my two best friends needed to be involved with each other, in a relationship that made absolutely  
no sense as far as characterization. They wouldn't let me evolve, they wouldn't even let me grow up."

"So what did you do?"

"I turned to the fans. Or rather, fan fiction. I discovered that there were legions of fans that felt just as cheated as I did when it came to my character. So they put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard, and they did something about it. They wrote. I got to be the hero, the love interest, whatever they could imagine. And believe me, they have very fertile imaginations. It was a tremendous ego boost to see that I really was being appreciated. If not by my own show, than at least by the fans. And that's what really matters anyway.

"That's why I'm not at the party tonight. It just reminds me too much of the parties that were thrown for my show. The same stuff that you described, people buying into their own hype, patting themselves on the back. I guess that's why I tend to keep to myself around here, why I like the quiet so much." He held up a PADD that was sitting on the other side of the bar. "It gives me a chance to read."

Travis smiled. "But you've always been friendly to me."

"I guess because you remind me of me my first season. It'll get better Travis, believe me. Already there are people out there who are complaining about you being under used. And even if it doesn't get better," he said, holding up the PADD again. "You always have the fic."

Travis smiled. "I never really thought of it like that before, I guess you're right." Travis stood from his stool. "I think I'll go back upstairs now, let some of that hot air out of the walking ego that is Trip Tucker."

The bartender smiled. "That's the spirit."

"Thanks Harry, I really appreciate all your help," Travis said, holding out his hand.

Harry Kim shook it. "Any time."

Harry watched as Travis walked back up the steps and down the hall towards Vic's, a newfound determination in his step. He smiled to himself as he turned back to his PADD and the story he had been reading. In this one, he was a vampire, and he was with B'Elanna, who was an Immortal. He smiled to himself again as he looked back up at the hallway where Travis had disappeared. "Kids."


End file.
